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The Great Party Blog Debates – Part 1 – Anarchy v. Capitalism and the Political Organization of Society

There has been a debate raging here at the party blog about the ideal form of political – social organization for society. Given that we are living in the throes of capitalism – which has been the primary driver of western sociological and political organization for over 500 years – and the flaws of capitalism are no longer debatable in good conscience (slavery / human trafficking, environmental destruction and degradation, downriver destructive flow of money, power over purpose, wealth over labor, etc.), the philosophical debate here is – do we destroy capitalism outright and accept anarchy or another form of bottom up organization such as socialism or communism? Or can capitalism survive with social democratic policies in place such as in the Scandavian countries? Do the police simply exist to protect capitalist structures and keep down those who comprise cheap labor in this world and oppress others that would turn over private wealth to the proletariat?

The debate raging – here and in larger society generally – What is the ideal form of political and social organization?

In one corner – we have Joe Jenson – former military who has been drinking protein shakes like water in anticipation of the coming civil war against the fascists. He has been working on marksmanship, argument skills, submission holds, and stockpiling bullets in the crawl space(s) under his house. He is also a trained lawyer, and therefore skilled in argument. He is not the type you would want to meet as an adversary, either in a bare-knuckle brawl in a back alley or in a courtroom. The nomination and confirmation of Kavanaugh has put Joe Jensen in a worse mood than usual, and with the country further entering into the depths of neo-fascist Trumpian policies protecting wealthy oil interests, pharmaceutical industries, insurance, polluters, and rich gentry in general, all while being propped up by evangelicals and quacky / white fragility promoting / supremacist xenophobes such as Jordan B. Peterson, a guy who literally hates hippies even though they birthed the greatest rock and roll music and promoted things everyone should love such as weed, open-mindedness, free-thinking, and equality.

Joe Jenson has been getting through his day with Gritty memes, presenting the new Flyers mascot as a communist:

If you’re a fascist, if you write for rival trashy blogs such as the Daily Stormer, or work for a cancerous organization such as Turning Point USA,

Gritty is coming for you.

Joe Jenson believes capitalism must be destroyed as quickly as possible. The recent study showing that significant change in environmental policy must be taken in the next 12 years to avoid catastrophic consequences to the Earth means capitalism is not up for the challenge of protecting the future of the human race and the world we live.

If you believe in something amoral and shitty such as white supremacy as opposed to something cool like the unification of all people through the party, or if your name is Andrew Anglin – Joe Jenson and Gritty are coming for you.

Joe Jenson: Capitalism must go. We will be scorched and extinct long before capitalism can evolve in any way to protect us. As long as those who are well off and a small percentage of the population benefit from the system and the masses suffer, there is a problem in how this society functions. The economic power of industry wants to keep things as they are to maintain the profit making machine. Our system won’t change as long as the moneyed interests have power and will oppose change. Yet scientists have an agenda:

The only real solution as I see it is for workers to have control of the economy. As long as workers do not have control of the economy, and this control remains in the hands of the few, people will be doomed. Even with universal healthcare, free education, and these other social democratic promises, as long as those controlling the economy are the few, any meaningful reform will be stripped down to benefit the few. Those controlling the economy continue to extract resources to benefit the limited, while we all pay the price. Capitalism has put us right in another gilded age. The state is only serving to keep the owners of capital in power. Any efforts to delegitimize capital owners – such as free assembly, removal of police forces that hold down organizers of labor and those who would destroy capitalism, those who would do away with the prisons – is met with force. Police should be on the same side as labor because they too are fighting for table scraps. The solution is the destruction of the state, and the reorganization from the ground up. This is commonly called anarchy, but it has been given a bad name and needs to be taken seriously. The state has only served those in power. And it must be changed.

IN THE OTHER CORNER – OPPOSING JOE JENSON – IS BIG LEV.

Big Lev is a pragmatist and a statistician. He relies upon empirical modeling, and not philosophical argument. Big Lev is knowingly reliant upon capitalism yet not a devotee. Moreover, Big Lev is in perfect health, no body fat, likely related to Eastern European Russo/German Arm Wrestlers, Chess Masters, and Flying Trapeze Artists. In this sense, he is not one want to change society for the sake of it, as he enjoys the status quo. Therefore, he refuses to fall into the mistake of repeating leftist propaganda such as “destroy the Fed,” and “down with capitalism” because he recognizes that we have technology, phones, clothing, cars, all of which relies, in part, upon cheap labor. If you destroy the current system, you need to be prepared to replace it with something quickly and effectively to avoid chaos. If your propositions are better in theory but not practice, if the practicality of a proposition fails statistical evidence – you will be declared a loser: “Blatantly fucking wrong!” declared in a loud harsh voice while you cry in the corner and people shake their heads in disgust. People believe Big Lev, not just because he is tall, strong, imposing, he is believable. Smart, credible, thinking ahead, the propositions are based in repeated observations and expected outcome. When he says something, he is probably right.

Big Lev: I appreciate your point. But who’s fixing the roads outside of your house? Who’s fixing the bridges? How are you getting clean water delivered to your sink? Is anyone testing that water? Can you point to a single example of communities without a government controlling certain essential functions, such as water delivery, electricity…

Joe Jenson: Hold on now…electrical systems have been overtaken by private enterprise.

Big Lev: Blatantly you’re making my point now. You’re talking about systems of capitalism. Get rid of utilities, like electric. You miss the bigger point. Basic services. Maintaining pollution controls. Before government, fines, municipal sewers, people are essentially pouring shit on the streets. How does this not become prevalent in an anarchy system where there are no rules and no regulations?

Joe Jenson:I’m not arguing for the removal of water or electrical services. However, the capitalists force the laws and set prices for these services. As a result, it is more expensive to put solar panels on one’s roof than to buy dirty electricity. If there were not capitalists pushing the state to protect fossil fuels in the form of free pollution and tax credits, you would have a cleaner environment. In an anarchical society, you will still pay for services. I’m not saying you get rid of municipal services. I’m saying the state no longer controls what you do. It does not control the police. There are basically no police. What’s wrong with that?

Big Lev: No. You’re changing the argument. I’m not arguing that the lack of policing and a society engaging in a reality without policing is bad. That’s clearly good. You’re just trying to out lawyer and ignore the premise. The premise is: can you give an example of an anarchy in a modern society, with modern needs, roads, bridges, public transportation systems, in which it has been successful.

Joe Jenson: Certainly there are examples. There are numerous small communes succeeding in Spain. You can also look at Tibetan villages as an example where communities can successfully organize without a police presence. But you’re missing my point. I’m not saying that you don’t have to pay taxes. I’m not saying that modern technology and systems would cease. What I’m saying is —- how is it that we still need a state to police us. Communities make laws, and there are not police to bring the law to your house.

Round 1 has ended. Now let’s meet the judges:

Judge Eh Goddammit. Mr. Goddammit is a new aged singer / songwriter and recently decided to enter the legal profession as well, and unfortunately has to attend law school in order to do so. He is currently knee deep in Constitutional text books. By reading Supreme Court opinions since the early 1800’s, one gains a unique historical perspective on how the laws have shaped the history of this Country.

Eh Goddammit: Round 1 is over. I think you are both missing the point. Why can’t we keep the Current system, or close to it, without just getting rid of a lot of drug laws. Like, what if you had a vote on the decision to fire or hire a policeman in your neighborhood. Essentially, they are supposed to work for you. If you do that, and don’t change society in a drastic way, would that not help? Try community policing.

Judge Doctor Captain Quirk. Dr. Captain Quirkis an Army captain, doctor, and general bleeding heart liberal with a mean streak of libertarian / dictatorial bend but only if he were in charge of the universe. You would ultimately be in favor the Doctor Captain being in charge of everything, because he would make a better leader than everyone else. Except that you might get sick of Indiana Jones Temple of Doom and Rutger Hauer movies playing on repeat constantly.

Judge Flag Man. Judge Flag Man is a flag salesman. He provides great insight about flags, and how these impact society at large. You need flags. They define who and what you belong to.

Flag Man: Buy more flags. This one is nice.

PartyBoyGeezy: Screw that flag. That flag is racist.

Flag Man: That is not racist. The Join or Die flag was popularized by Ben Franklin. It depicts the colonies during the revolution. The image means that if you do not join the country, all aspects of the snake will die. Both the revolution and the individual states will fail. You are thinking of a different flag, the Gadsen Flag.

Don’t tread on me is used as a calling sign for libertarians and supremacists – namely those who would tread on the opinions of others by stating “Don’t tread on me.”

Captain Quirk: I like the Join or Die Flag. I’m going to buy one and put that in my office. When nurses question me – I’m going to tell them – Join or Die!

Judge Deep Fried Vegan. Judge Vegan is a master vegan chef by day, hotel concierge by night. He encounters many strange characters at his hotel including crazy right wingers, wealthy democratic donors, escorts, and general suburban privileged rich drunks. By day, he is amassing a menu of vegan items for his potential launch of a vegan restaurant.

Judge Vegan: Can you make me another Pan African Flag?

My neighbor down the street that is contributing to the gentrification of my block keeps taking mine down because he thinks it makes the neighborhood look aggressive. Also, Joe Jenson is clearly right. We need to burn this to the ground. This is basically how I feel all the time.

Flag Man: I can make you any of those flags. We make all flags, except for the confederate flag, or nazi flag, unless you are a serious movie producer. We made some of those for Glory and Schindler’s List, but most asking for nazi or confederate flags are not Steven Spielburg. Did you know the confederate flag is the best selling flag in the country? We have also seen an uptick in requests for nazi flags and German Eagles. We won’t sell or make those flags. We have a conscience about our flags.

Joe Jenson: I have an improvement on the Gadsen Flag. You should stop selling that other piece of crap flag and sell this instead.

Captain Kwig: Round one is a tie. Eh Goddammit is out of order. Policing, and the possibility of community policing is to be discussed further in Round 2.